Monday, December 9, 2013

Excerpt from Elaine Marie Cooper's Fields of the Fatherless

Fields of the Fatherless
Revolutionary War and Colonial American Historical Fiction
(Based on a true story)
by Elaine Marie Cooper

Lighthouse of the Carolinas
October 2013

In the early months of 1775, war is brewing in the American colonies.
Although frightened, eighteen-year-old Betsy Russell of Menotomy
Village, Massachusetts, wants to be prepared in case of attack by the
British troops.

Her father, prosperous farmer Jason, is the fourth generation of
Russells on this land—yet their very rights as British Colonials are
being stripped away one by one. Will the King of England take the
Russells’ land as well?

Tensions are growing here in the countryside west of Boston and the
outbreak of battle seems almost a certainty. Jason desperately wants to
protect his family—his wife, children and grandchildren—and their
future. Betsy makes every attempt to be prepared for the worst.

But not even the American militia could have predicted what was about
to occur—right on the Russells’ doorstep. If Betsy loses everything she
holds dear, are the rights of all the Colonists endangered?

Excerpt

The
hissing sound of steam greeted Betsy as Jacob plunged a hot bar of iron into
water to cool it down.

Betsy
forced a friendly smile. “Good day, Mr. Watson.”

He
turned at the sound of her voice.

“I fear
my nephew here has acquired a sty under his eye, and father requested I take
him to you.”

Jacob
revealed a set of white teeth in the middle of his soot-covered face. He placed
his burly hands on his hips. His heavy, leather apron squeaked as it rubbed
against his massive chest and belly. “Well, now, is that so, young Mr. Josiah?”

The boy
nodded and covered his eye while scrunching his face.

“Well,
lad, I’ll be with ye soon enough. Why don’t ya come hither and see this axe
head I’m forgin’?”

The boy
walked slowly toward Jacob and watched with rapt attention. The smith gripped
the piece of iron with a large metal tong and heated it until it was red, then
beat it with several blows of the hammer. After the iron submitted to the tool,
Jacob plunged the hot piece into the slack tub filled with water, where steam
surrounded the worker and his small audience of one. Jacob repeated the
process, stoking the fire that he allowed Josiah to look at closely.

Between
the steam and the smoke, Josiah’s eyes began to water. The boy must not have
noticed, because he never wiped the moisture off his face. When Jacob had
completed the axe head, he set his tools on the anvil.

“Now
then. Where be this sty your grandsire spoke of?”

Josiah
blinked several times and first pointed to one eye, then the other. “I think it
was this one, but I am not certain.”

Betsy
covered her mouth to keep from laughing. She observed the blacksmith gently
push the boy’s head back. “Well, well. Everything looks well enough.” Turning
toward Betsy, he winked. “Looks like the steam and smoke did the job right
thorough.”

Josiah’s
eyes narrowed. “What happened, Aunt Betsy?”

“Looks
like the sty has opened and gone away, Josiah. Mr. Watson is quite the sty
doctor, is he not?” She picked up his long queue of hair and tugged on it
gently. “You are well enough, indeed.”

As if
forgetting he was ever in discomfort, Josiah ran out toward the bridge. “I want
to throw rocks in the river.”

“Don’t
get too close to the water.”

“I
won’t, Aunt Betsy.”

Betsy
paused for a moment while watching her nephew play. She felt the urge to speak
to Mr. Watson about her fears, but she did not know where to begin. Clutching
her cloak, she smiled awkwardly and looked at the ground.

She
took in a hurried breath and gathered her courage. “Aye, Mr. Watson. Pray,
forgive me for asking you to bear this burden of mine, but there’s no one at
home to confide my fears to. Father just keeps telling me ’twill be all right,
he’ll watch out for me. And Mother … she ne’er wishes to discuss the
possibility that we might go to war with England. It seems the very thought
constricts her words.” Betsy’s voice trailed off.

Thoughts
of impending war dampened her all-too-brief, lighthearted respite.

I wish there were more jovial moments in
my life.

Jacob
soberly glanced at the dirt floor of the shop, then looked up. “’Tis difficult
for parents to speak of such things to their child, Miss Russell. Yer parents
take much delight in their only daughter. To speak of such concerns as the
loomin’ war is a frightenin’ talk for a mother and sire. I know. I wish I
didna’ have to prepare my family neither.”

Betsy’s
eyes looked in earnest at the smith. “Mr. Watson, not speaking of the fear will
not change the facts. I want to be ready. I do not wish to be unprepared. My
father says he’ll protect us, but what if he’s gone with the militia? Then
what? ’Tis certain, I have no way to defend myself or my family.”

She
clutched her cloak with tight fingers and felt her heart pounding through the
wool.

Jacob’s
eyes softened and crinkled with his warm smile. “I know your father does not
wish you to carry a musket, lass. ’Tis true that the men will do the fightin’.”
He paused and then lowered his voice. “But the women are always in danger as
well.” He inhaled sharply and stared at the sky for a moment, seeming to be in
deep thought. After a moment, he turned toward her. “Wait here.”

Fields of the Fatherless can be purchased on Amazon for kindle or in paperback.

GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment and your email address for a chance to win. We will be giving away one copy of Fields of the Fatherless by Elaine Marie Cooper and one copy of Prize of My Heart by Lisa Norato. (Foreign addresses eligible for an ebook version only).

Lisa Noratois the multi-published author of Prize of My Heart, an inspirational, seafaring historical from
Bethany House, set during the Federal era. A life-long New Englander, Lisa lives in a historic village with
homes and churches dating as far back as the eighteenth century.

Well, I've read BOTH Fields of the Fatherless and Pirate of my heart and I loved them both! That being said, I don't have signed copies of either, so if these copies are signed, then please do put me in your drawing. debsbunch5[at]jesusanswers[dot]com